In a significant move, the House of Representatives in the United States passed legislation on Saturday that could lead to a nationwide ban of popular video-sharing app TikTok, unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells the platform. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill as early as Tuesday. This latest effort differentiates itself from a previous bill, as it is attached to a comprehensive foreign aid bill supporting Ukraine and Israel. Furthermore, it addresses concerns raised by some Senate members by extending the deadline for TikTok to find a buyer.

President Biden has expressed support for the bill, indicating that the forced sale of TikTok or a possible ban is rapidly gaining momentum towards becoming law. If implemented, this would mark the first time that the U.S. government has passed legislation to shut down an entire social media platform and is likely to initiate a protracted legal battle.

TikTok has strongly criticized the bill, denouncing it as an unconstitutional attack on their immensely popular service. The company's spokesman, Alex Haurek, stated that it is regrettable that the House of Representatives is seizing the opportunity of crucial foreign and humanitarian assistance to push through a ban bill that infringes upon the free speech rights of 170 million American users.

National security officials in Washington have long expressed concerns that the Chinese government could exploit TikTok to propagate propaganda aimed at meddling in U.S. elections or surveilling the app's 170 million monthly American users. However, these concerns largely remain speculative, as no publicly available evidence has demonstrated any influence by government officials on the content seen by American users or any concrete proof of Chinese surveillance of U.S. citizens via TikTok.

TikTok claims to have established a firewall between its Los Angeles headquarters and its parent company in Beijing. Nevertheless, reports suggest that U.S. user data may still transfer between the two locations. Despite the lack of evidence that Chinese officials have accessed personal information through TikTok, the potential theoretical ability of China to weaponize an app used by such a large portion of the American population has sparked a comprehensive crackdown.

The bill passed by the House provides TikTok with up to a year to find a suitable buyer or a group of investors to acquire the platform. This extension was made in response to concerns raised by Senators who felt that the initial six-month window provided by the previous bill was inadequate. However, experts on TikTok are questioning the feasibility of a potential sale, as ByteDance currently owns TikTok's algorithm, the essential ingredient that drives the app's success. Moreover, the Chinese government's recent addition of content-recommendation algorithms to its export-control list means that selling the technology would require the Chinese government's approval, which is unlikely to be granted.

Additionally, the high valuation of TikTok poses a significant obstacle, making it feasible for only the largest tech companies to potentially acquire it. Though the exact worth of TikTok is unknown, analysts estimate that ByteDance, as the parent company, is valued at approximately $225 billion, with TikTok being its most prosperous service. If a Silicon Valley giant were to pursue a takeover, it would undoubtedly face scrutiny from antitrust enforcers in the U.S. capital, who have grown increasingly wary of deals that extend the dominance of already colossal tech firms.

Despite the legislation's passage in the House, James Lewis, director of the technology and public-policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, remains doubtful that ByteDance will willingly divest itself of TikTok. However, he acknowledged that the bill effectively postpones any resolution until after the upcoming presidential election, providing a window of opportunity to find a genuine solution.

As the potential ban looms, the future of TikTok in the United States hangs in the balance, awaiting further congressional action and the outcome of the upcoming election.